Human resource is known as the backbone of the organization. Proper functioning of this department can help in overcoming all the barriers present in the other departments. However, if the human resource of a company is weak, no other competitive advantage can help (Hendry 2012). This report analyzes the downfall of the Japanese automobile company, Toyota because of its human resources. Considering the situation, characteristics of the adult trainees have been discussed along with strategies and methods of evaluating the training program.
About the organization
Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational automotive manufactured in Japan. Its headquarters are situated in Toyota, Aichi in Japan. It was analyzed in 2017 that the company consisted of 0.3 million employees worldwide and the fifth largest company in 2016, as per revenues.
Toyota is the market leader in hybrid vehicle and is one of the largest companies that encourage market adoption of vehicles (Beardwell and Thompson 2014). The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937, which was a little different from his father`s company which was caused the Toyota Industries.
In the past few years, Toyota has been facing several problems with respect to mechanical issues its vehicles have been facing. The reputation of the company got further damage when the issues were handled poorly with respect to public grievance, which bought about a huge decline in the sales. The main issue faced by Toyota was on its eight models that resulted because of the faulty pedals that were produced by human resource, computer problems and the product design.
This was due to lot of reasons. Most of them were related to human resource problems. The employees failed to perform the tasks given to them properly and the management was unable to provide the staff with proper training activities. Ultimately, it can be stated that the human error was the root cause of the problems that were faced by Toyota.
Having a weak HR Department can cause huge problems in a company especially if the goods produced are being sold in the consumer market (Bratton and Gold 2012). Due to these blunders made by the workers and management in Toyota, the company lost about $155 million per week from the recalls, which took place, and over $30 billion in stocks.
The Management was aware of the issues however, the hid the problem so that the brand name of Toyota could be kept on track. The organization followed a faulty system of rewarding managers who kept the costs down rather than concentrating on keeping the quality high. This system created huge incentives for the managers who then kept the quality low to earn rewards.
Thus, main human resource problems that took place:
Therefore, from the discussion it can be stated that the downfall of Toyota was due to the faulty human resource management (Jiang et al. 2012). This faulty human resource situation could have been improved with the help a well-stated training program that could have trained the employees providing them both with technical skills as well as good values.
Adults cannot be assumed oversized children. The maturity in the adults brings a unique characteristic to the learning. Due to this quality, better plans can be designed for them.
Given below are the characteristics that are common to all the adult learners:
The training program has to be a successful one and cannot be just based on the need for it but it has to be result oriented.
The following strategies can be adopted to make the program a success.
Alignment is the key step in the success of any training program. Alignment with three groups is extremely crucial like the leadership team, franchisees and the vendor partners. The management team refers to the immediate supervisors and managers that look after the quality of the project (Wood and Kispál-Vitai 2014). Meetings regarding the training programs must be held at least twice a month.
Franchisee: The creation of a meeting committee will help Toyota franchisees. The members of the franchise shall also learning the movement within the organization and make sure that the same training program is being conducted in the domain of their stores.
Vendor partners- Toyota has various vendor partners as well. These are the key suppliers who provide raw materials to the company (Marler and Fisher 2013). In the process of implementing a successful training program, it is extremely important to get the commitment of all the groups involved. Once the alignment of all the groups has been achievement, three strategies pertaining to the three stages have to be taken care of.
During the first stage, a pre course briefing needs to be done with all the participants. They need to be informed about the modules involved in the training process. They will also be briefed about the skills, principles and techniques that will be learned and how they will be applied practically.
This strategy also includes ensuring that all the trainees that are involved in the training process have read the pre-requisite exercises to avoid wasting time and energy.
This strategy of pre-course briefing is extremely important as it sends out a message that the organization cares about the employee`s development and that the organization is serious about the outcomes of the training program (Kramar 2014).
The strategy that needs to be applied during training involves first of all matching the performance objectives with the organizational objectives. Choosing the appropriate method is extremely crucial .The right method and delivery modes need to be chosen so that the training is effective.
Post course- Debriefing must take place and feedback should be taken from the employees regarding the quality of training which was provided (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016). This feedback can then be used to improve the training module. (Refer to figure one in the appendix)
Once the training has been delivered to the employees of Toyota, the trainers must then make sure that they check the success of the training. This evaluation can be done using the given evaluation methods.
One of the primary methods of evaluating the success of training is measuring the satisfaction that is derived from it. Like mentioned earlier, this step is the last strategy that is to be applied in the training given. This satisfaction could be measured on various parameters like did they like the trainer, how did they like the material of the training given to them, would they like to have such training opportunities again and so one. In many companies, the training evaluation ends in this phase however; there are four more relevant methods to evaluate the training program.
Many companies who conduct work-related training courses do not conduct an examination with it. It is believed that if a valid and useful examination can follow training, it can help determine whether the content was actually grasped by the trainee or not (Aswathappa 2013). In cases where it is found that the employees did not acquire the skills required, then training would require to be given again. It also helps to flag those areas where training is actually required to be imparted in more details.
It is often noticed that participants who tend to take training more seriously often believe that they will be required to demonstrate the learned post training. Hence, if these participants are made to undertake an exam within a week of training, and their responses are graded, this shall help to ensure that any gaps that are present can be filled in quickly.
The third step of evaluation is examining whether the trainees are applying what has been learnt. There are certain behavioral patterns that have to be changed after training. A dummy test can be conducted before the training with respect to the main task for which the training is being applied. These results can be recorded, and compared with the dummy test which is to be conducted after the training has been done These to results from the test can be compared and it can be examined easily whether the trainee has applied what is learnt or not.
At the end, the business training is held to improve the business operations. It is conducted to improve the performance indicators and processes. A measurement of these should be done before the training program is rolled out (Aswathappa 2013). As mentioned previously, these results must be measured to the results of the business processes and improvements if any after the training program is conducted. This will help in measuring whether the training was effective and any improvements have been achieved in the business or not.
The return on investment constitutes of the last level of training. There are certain results, which the company is expecting to achieve by applying the training process. In order to evaluate the return on investment all the costs relevant to the training fees which includes-materials, trainer, opportunity cost, time, salary and others should be calculated. The business improvements must be measured along with the financial gains in the long run (3months, 6 months, 12 months and so on).
Return on Investment= Long term net gains/Costs
These five steps form an essential part of the evaluation process to measure the success of training imparted.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the discussion it can be said that training forms and essential part of achievement goals of the organization. Proper training should be provided to the employees in order to improve the business processes of the organization and handle situations where the organization is at fault. The characteristics of the young trainers should be kept in mind while designing the training program so that the trainees are able to adapt to the course easily. Delivering the program is equally important, however proper evaluation must also be made in order to determine the success of the program.
References
Aswathappa, K., 2013. Human resource management: Text and cases. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Beardwell, J. and Thompson, A., 2014. Human resource management: a contemporary approach. Pearson Education.
Berman, E.M., Bowman, J.S., West, J.P. and Van Wart, M.R., 2012. Human resource management in public service: Paradoxes, processes, and problems. Sage.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan.
Daley, D.M., 2012. Strategic human resources management. Public Personnel Management, pp.120-125.
Hendry, C., 2012. Human resource management. Routledge.
Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C., 2012. How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), pp.1264-1294.
Kramar, R., 2014. Beyond strategic human resource management: is sustainable human resource management the next approach?. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(8), pp.1069-1089.
Marler, J.H. and Fisher, S.L., 2013. An evidence-based review of e-HRM and strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 23(1), pp.18-36.
Purce, J., 2014. The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals), 67.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C. and Chung, C., 2016. Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.
Truss, C., Mankin, D. and Kelliher, C., 2012. Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press.
Wood, G. and Kispál-Vitai, Z., 2014. Strategic Human Resource Management. Strategic Human Resource Management: An International Perspective, p.72.
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